Chris Bernhardt

Now that I think about your right. The radiant ceiling systems with drywall I haven't seen with these kind of cracks unless there had been some movement in the structure. These panels that I am asking about are smaller in length and breadth and appear to be plaster and I recall seeing this kind of cracking with non-radiant ceiling systems but not to the same degree. The cracks are closed not open and the panels remain in plane. the cracks appear to follow the outline of the joints. I took a picture but the cracks didn't show up well. Did they use to finish the joints with paper tape or in a plaster system they don't? I guess what you are saying is that even if the joints are not open or panels out of plane that the cracking indicates some flexing in the structure? The house was out in Monmouth and had a flat roof 4"x10" beams and 1" tongue and groove decked over by plywood built in 1961. The living room and dinning room area ceiling had a 2" - 3" sag in it but interestingly the hallway is where I saw the most cracking. Chris, Oregon

This I time I wrote it up for correction. Having been spending a lot of time here on TIJ I have been doing a lot of reforming having grown up in a vaccum. I am sick and tired of writing things up for further evaluation to only have the contractor say it doesn't need to be done. I am sick and tired of the home owner or his relative doing a dumbass repair. I have all that language about having the work done by a qualified so and so but it doesn't seem to make any difference. More and more I just say the thing is in need of repair or recommend repair. I don't say it should be, could be, would be. The thing either needs repair or it doesn't. I have done so out of frustration from call backs concerning my dumbass advice as Jim would say because I was not being clear or definitive. I also will outline in some cases a preferred repair even in somewhat detail when my gut tells me the seller's pet fish is going to do the repair. Anybody here can become a licensed contractor with very little effort but that does't make them qualified. All the time all I ever hear is "the repair was done by a licensed contractor" uh who happens know nothing about building codes, industry standards and can't even read the manufacturer's installation instructions. What I meant by double the cost was a generalization and I was referring to where the person doing the repair replaced half of the line because the rest looked OK in thier opinion when the whole line should have been replaced. Chris, Oregon

To my understanding no reductions are allowed in DW lines as this constitutes and impediment to flow and a potential build up to obstruction. I just want to confirm it however. for example I will once in a while see 1.5" galvanized kitchen, laundry or shower lines etc. replaced with 2" ABS but then reduced to 1.5" at the original gal or cast plumbing. I think the applicable Oregon code is P2611.5. I have written these up for further eval by a licensed plumber but sometimes they come back and say its OK. Its not OK for new construction so why should it be OK on a repair. Doing it right would mean the replacement up to the nearest 2" or greater line which would be double the cost typically in a crawlspace and sometimes even more for example in a basement. What say yee? Chris, Oregon

I commonly see cracked seams/joints ceiing facings in older homes with radiant ceiling heat due to thermal expansion and contraction of the panels. The condition appears cosmetic and I make mention of them but are they in need of repair for other than cosmetic reasons as long as they are still working? Chris, Oregon

I dare you to stand under it! Chris, Oregon

Hey Mike, Concerning the topic at hand when I do a new home inspection I point out the cosmetic stuff, I point out anything might be a concern. I do it now but I didn't use to. I have had to many clients show concern. I had a client the other day ask me if I could inspect the inside the heating ducts cause they were told of a case where someones new house had standing water in the ducts from construction. There are times I really wish I had a sewer scope or the equiviilent for concerns like those. Its beyond the SOP but thats a reasonable concern and I and any inspector should be happy to oblige if thier able. Chris, Oregon

How do you write these up? So far I have been vague and have been recommending "remediation" but is there a proper way to clear a crawlspace of contamination by rats, cats or people? I have read it recommended that one first disinfect the poo by hitting with lysol or bleach before trying to remove it. Thanks, Mike. At least I am not the only one who swims thru rat and cat poo. It sometimes gets to me and I want to puke. Thats not good in front of a client ha ha. Chris, Oregon

I have seen a number of crawlspaces that have been littered with rat poo. In some cases it was light and in some so heavy that it would be impossible to crawl them with out contacting and disturbing the poo. Does anyone enter such crawlspaces if it means comming into contact with the poo or am I the only dumbass who has done it? Do you report it for correction? and if so what are the protcols for clearing the condition? I report any evidence of mice or rat or anything else that might be a concern to my client. I have had clients refuse to buy an otherwise decent house for the sake of evidence of prior mice infestation. But I would like to offer some advice on a approved protocol for cleaning the mess up. Chris, Oregon

Thanks, Jim I wrote it up for correction but I didn't have any simple ideas to suggest for corrective action for this particular joint between a wall and eave. Chris, Oregon

Are junction boxes required to be accessible? For instance is it satisfactory to bury them in insulation in ceiling assemblies? I am pretty sure you can't conceal them within a wall assembly. What is the NEC article that covers this? Chris, Oregon

Interesting use of a romex clamp used to splice the drop neutral to the entrance conductor neutral. Download Attachment: jse_IMG_6193.jpg 46.76 KB Chris, Oregon

New construction, vinyl siding. It just seemed to me that water would just pour thru these poorly detailed joints. I know that a weather resistive barrier is suppose to be present backing the joint and the wall beneath but why tempt fate. How would someone detail these joints so that they are flashed such that water wouldn't so easily enter? The vinyl siding institute installation manual does not cover this type of joint. Download Attachment: jse_IMG_7106.jpg 50.24 KB Download Attachment: jse_IMG_7109.jpg 49.96 KB Chris, Oregon

Got it,thanks Mike So its called and "alternate closed cut valley" Do you recommend making comment on it when 3 tab shingles are used to line the valley? Assuming like you said that as long as there is a proper underlayment installation there should not be a problem. Chris, Oregon

Thanks for the replies such far however I would like to point your attention to the picture. Note this is not a closed cut valley. Look carefully and what you should see is that the valley was lined vertically with 3 tab shingles. This places the keyways horizontal and perpendicular to the valley which can direct and water under the shingle and hang up debris and obstruct flow. In a closed cut valley the key ways will be roughly parallel, self draining and the overlapping valley is supposed to be cemented down. The long island valley is touted as being the fastest way to make a valley because you don't have to cut anything but using a 3 tab strip shingle whose keyways are perpendicular and not self draining to the valley would appear to be poor practice. In my googling around I haven't been able to find where this is an approved means of constructing a valley. Mike, I acknowledge that you made comment on the fact that the 3 tab shingles lining the valley should have been flipped around and wasn't due to the color difference that would occur. Have you ever heard of a name for this type of valley? It resembles most closely a cut valley. The name the article applied to it was a long island valley. But I wonder how others refer to it? Chris, Oregon

I see this type of valley a lot in my area. I first learned about it in the Jan 2003 issue of Fine Homebuilding however the author said that this type of valley should only be made with laminated shingles. Is this valley even when done with laminated shingles approved anywhere? Is laying this type of valley using 3 tab shingles considered a defect? Download Attachment: 3tab long island valley.jpg 51.4 KB Chris, Oregon

Of course I consider myself a professional. However professional negligence is a legal theory that I am not sure can normally be applied to a professional home inspector. Thats what I was trying to say not that as home inspectors we are not professional. There is a distinction between the two. Sometimes the legal sense of the word is not the common use of the word. Thanks for the link. I recall now reading it before. This is ill-worded and ill-considered and I apologize for that. It reads not the way I intended. Chris, Oregon

When I started my business I was not affiliated with any inspection associations and still am not. I didn't have any certifications other then that required by my state and still don't. There is certaintly an allure in my mind to being affiliated and having certifications up the yin yang but in my opinion they are unecessary to building a great business in my market but they maybe elsewhere. Don't get me wrong I admire my brothers who are affilitaed and accredited! I wish I was too. And don't want to imply that I am proud of the fact that I am not, and I am always considering this and that certification But I have successfully built a business without them. That being said I made up business cards of course but my angle in past the gate keeper was to show them my report (product) and talk about the benefit of my report style (product). At the time I also offered spanish speaking services which also helped greatly to get in thru the door. Another thing that broke my business wide open was that my wife would come to the inspections and chat with the clients and realtors and entertain them while I ran around and did the inspection. My wife is really out going and can hit it off with anybody. Me on the other hand forget it. However my wife hasn't come to inspections in about 3 years. Theres 4 little ninos to take careof. Slowly over about a 3 year period my business grew totally by referral from one agent to another or client to family. But the agents that I got were either new or thier inspector had quit, moved away or screwed up. In other words if the agent already has an inspector that they were happy with then you should just be friendly and don't try to win them over from using the inspector thier using now. At the end of the first year I was working regularly with 2 realtors. At the end of the 2nd year I was working with 4 or 5 and at the end of the 3rd year it was about 10. So it was basically doubling every year. After 7 years I work maybe with about 20 of about 40 or 50 realtors regularly plus about 10% old clients or client referrals. That number varies sometimes maybe in one week 80% are old clients or client referrals. I have some realtors that go in spurts and some that go crazy for one year but disappear the next etc. What I have found is that if you want a certain number of inspections a week then you will need double that number of regularly referring realtors. In the winter time or off season my business drops in half of the busy season although there are spurts where I have to turn work away. Now mind you I only do FHI's and don't offer other inspection services. Some inspectors offer one stop shopping and will inspect anything and everything. My business model is just FHI's. My continued marketing has always been based on the strength of my reports. I constantly tweak the report style to try and communicate better and this is the feedback I get from the realtors and clients. Pictures, Pictures, Pictures and a straight forward list of findings written narrative style and not broiler plated. Thru continued education try to limit your referrals for futher evaluation. Its a big mistake to rely on just following a check list. After you touch the bases you have to stand back and try and figure out what all this evidence is saying. In other words just do the best inspection you can and constantly review and seek improvement of your service. I think that attitude really will come accoss and be the best marketing to your client or the realtors. I have tried advertising to no avail and it has always been a complete waste of money. It just takes time and your have to be patient but driven. You should expect it to take at least 3 years before you have something built up. Chris, Oregon

Chris, Yes, of course. Using the word servicable implies to me that the inspector was just checking a box in his report writing software. I was interested in comment on the broader discussion of out duty to alert our clients to product recalls. It also occured to me that as a member of ASHI or some other Inspection Association you might be considered professional if that was what you were holding yourself out to be to the client. I mean our Oregon SOP doesn;t use the wording "in the professional judgement of the inspector" The word "professional" has legal meaning. For the client to sue under professional negligence rather then negligent misrepresentation would imply to my thinking they were seeking punitive damges in addition to the replacement of the furnace. Chris, Oregon

Mike, Is or was a discussion of that recall here? Also Barry failed to mention that an inspectors contract might disclaim alerting the client to recalls. And I don;t think that it would be professional negligence it would be negligent misrepresentation. When did we achieve professional status? The duty I would think would depend upon ones local area of practice even if the product was distributed and installed nation wide. Where do the SOP's require an inspector to alert the client to a recall? Reporting on recalls appears to be a personal business decision. If we are truly advocates for the safety of our clients then where does it stop? I recently read something about I joists being a cancer threat on one of your threads on your JLC forum! Chris, Oregon

I was recently googling around concerning appliance elevation in garages and found a paper dicussing research on preventing vapor ignition and installing a dam around the hot water heater was specifically addressed and found to work. I think the anti ignition technolgy in the new hot water heaters is based on the same principal. Unfortunately I didn;t keep a reference since I was looking for implementation dates for appliance elevation in garages. Chris, Oregon

I was lucky I think and started out of the hole with a top producer that was refering me about 5 inspections a month. That got me meeting other realtors at inspections and familiarity with the gate keepers in differnt offices. My real secret being a complete newbie at the time and got me in past the gate keepers was providing some degree of spanish speaking service. Mind you at the time I couldn't speak spanish and barely can now but it got me in a lot of doors. It also helped that I worked as a real estate assistant for about 6 months and new a number of realtors already and was familiar with the RE culture. One story I can tell you is that when I worked as a assistant to this top producer a couple of ladies from one of the local title companies would stop by about once or twice a week in the office to chat and offer thier companies services. At the time I felt kind of bad for them since my boss was in with another outfit solid. They knew that but came just the same and were still friendly as all can be. And guess what! When my bosses title company screwed up guess who he called? The two ladies who regularly stopped by with smiles, cards and some good will. Keep passing out those business cards and just get to know them and eventually when thier inspector screws up, quits or moves away then you will get the call. I think what Mike said is great idea. I have done that myself. Chris, Oregon

Even if you do a free inspection for a client with no written contract you will be liable just the same for negligent misrepresentation, negligence and fraud. If your client breaches the contract for example by not paying you are not off the hook. You are still up for negligent misrepresentation etc. The fact that you did not receive the agreed upon consideration is a separate issue. Chris, Oregon

Yes, it was plastic. Green colored PVC? Is that new or has that been around for a while and why green? Does it have some advantage? Chris, Oregon

I inspected an older house that had a cast iron building drain that was fernco coupled to a green colored pipe which appeard to be the sewer. I could only see a couple of inches of the pipe so couldn't see any markings on it but the only green colored piping I'm aware of is for the municipal gas distribution systems. Is there a green colored DWV material out there or do you think somebody used some spare gas pipe? Chris, Oregon

Can't see any fasteners. 2 -16D's required. Were they just on the other side of the rafters? Theres one rafter sistered. Why? and was that done properly. Chris, Oregon